Saturday, August 27, 2016

Are you a krill?

Photo source: www.nextnature.net

Last night, the kids decided they wanted to watch Happy Feet 2...again. I was sitting there watching the movie, and for those who haven't seen the movie, let me ruin it for you. Essentially, the Emperor penguin nation is at risk of complete annihilation due to a freak incident. The main character, Mumble, and three little penguin chicks are the only ones left on the surface, and it falls on them to save the Emperor nation.

The penguins face starvation, hawk attacks, and death. Mumble goes to the ends of the Earth to enlist help. He calls on penguin friends and elephant seals to try to make a way for the trapped penguins, including his wife, to get back to the surface. We're talking powerhouses in their world. If you've never seen an elephant seal, those suckers are HUGE!

Now, there is a side story about Will and Bill Krill. They're best friends. Will, I think?, is called to a life outside the hive (sorry, I don't know much about krill so that might not even be what they are called). He has a calling to be more than just another krill waiting to be whale food. So, he sets out to find his destiny, and Bill follows because that's what friends do.

Well, if you've ever seen Happy Feet, Mumble had taught the entire colony how to dance, and that carries on through the second movie. Bill ends up in the middle of the trapped colony during part of the movie, and he witnesses this dancing thing.

Photo soure: www.surfersvillage.com

Okay, so fast forward to the end of the movie, and there is a dancing/singing number where the powerhouses are at the surface dancing to get the ice to drop and create a path for the trapped penguins to climb up. At this point, Will, the prodigal son, has returned to the rest of the collective and hears the dancing above them. He starts to dance on the ice under the water, telling Bill that it "brings out his happy". SOOO, the rest of the krill join him in dancing. It's a pretty neat little scene, to be honest...probably my favorite part of the movie. As the dance ends, Will stomps his foot and his one little stomp cracks the ice in just the right way that it travels the distance of the iceberg and cracks it, causing the ice to break and come crashing down to create this path that the penguins can climb up.

So, as I'm watching this, I think to myself that just one tiny, seemingly insignificant step saved a nation. It was an act that nobody on the surface knew about. In fact, they didn't even know that this little krill even existed. However, his one little step saved a nation. Think about that!!!

Every day, we go through life and live out our days. We meet people, we do things, and we affect people in small, seemingly insignificant ways. To us, most of the stuff we do is just stuff . We never know how our actions can impact others, and oftentimes, we don't even see the results of our actions. What would happen if YOU, a tiny little krill, touched someone's life so deeply that they then take up the cross and save a nation. What if your one little act changes something so significantly that you save a nation without even knowing it? We hear that small voice speaking to us:

"The Lord said, "Go out. Stand on the mountain in front of me. I am going to pass by. As the Lord approached, a very powerful wind tore the mountains apart. It broke up the rocks. But the Lord wasn't in the wind. After the wind there was an earthquake. But the Lord wasn't in the earthquake. After the earthquake a fire came. But the Lord wasn't in the fire. And after the fire there was only a gentle whisper." (1 Kings 19:11-12, NIrV).

What if we stopped, listened, and heeded that still, small voice urging us to action? That still, small voice that is the foundation of our very being. What if we obeyed the words whispered in our ears? Could we then save a nation? So, tell me, are you a krill?